European opera from the 17th through 19th centuries frequently exploited fascination with — and anxiety about — the Ottoman Empire. A stage obsession with ‘Turks’ produced works such as Handel’s Tamerlane, Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio and Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers. In 1814, the 22-year-old Rossini composed his 13th opera, A Turk in Italy. Like Pirandello’s later Six Characters in Search of an Author, the opera features a creator figure searching for dramatic material: the blocked writer Prosdocimo hunts for characters to inspire his next comedy.
The story centres on Fiorilla, a flirtatious young Neapolitan wife bored with her older husband Geronio. When the charismatic Turkish prince Selim arrives in Naples, she recklessly pursues him, provoking jealousy, confusion and comic chaos. Selim, meanwhile, encounters his former lover Zaide, whom he abandoned. Overseeing the emotional mayhem is Prosdocimo, who manipulates events in search of material for his latest play.
Mozart’s Così fan tutte was being performed in Naples while Turco was being composed, and the similarities are striking. Both portray Neapolitan characters testing their lovers’ fidelity, with shadows of Don Giovanni lurking beneath the comedy.
Prosdocimo observes Fiorilla behaving almost like a female Don Giovanni while Geronio and Narciso, her lover, orbit helplessly around her. Rossini even ‘borrows’ music from Don Giovanni for Fiorilla’s entrance. Into this unstable world steps Selim, immediately drawn to Fiorilla while under the furious gaze of Zaide.
Outside the annual Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, many of Rossini’s lesser-known masterpieces remain rarely staged, companies favouring familiar titles. Glyndebourne deserves considerable praise for reviving this jewel.
Rossini treads a delicate line between comedy and cruelty. French director Mariane Clément captures that tension superbly, drawing out the opera’s brilliance and wit. A masked ball devised for elopement rather than assassination, with everyone dressed identically, becomes gloriously absurd.
Clément uses the unusually long eight-minute overture to create a prequel set five years earlier. During a book-signing, the famous author Prosdocimo meets his future wife. She later reappears in a non-singing role, subtly steering events with a feminist twist. The chorus purchase Prosdocimo’s book by contactless payment, while the principals consult copies to discover their own futures, protesting whenever they dislike his decisions.
The production overflows with inspired comic invention. Geronio runs a delicatessen; duels are fought with a carrot and a turnip; Albazar serenades with a ham instead of a guitar before attempting suicide with a string of sausages. Then comes the inevitable spaghetti fight.
The plot continually evolves through Prosdocimo’s projected handwritten and typed notes, which reshape the drama in real time. Geronio suddenly changes into clothes from another decade mid-aria; during an argument with Fiorilla she initially dominates until a projected instruction announces, “No dramatic tension if Geronio is a doormat”, forcing him into a more assertive stance. Meanwhile, Prosdocimo’s wife subtly softens the script’s harsher edges.
Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballé and Beverly Sills all sang the formidable role of Fiorilla, testimony to its demands. Cuban-American soprano Elena Villalón gives a superb performance, especially in the rondò finale, combining warmth, glorious phrasing, a varied vocal palette and immaculate coloratura.
Rossini style seems second nature to the 28-year-old Pesaro-born Italian baritone Matteo Mancini, winner of the 2024 Renata Tebaldi Competition. He plays the heart-throb Prosdocimo with effortless confidence and warm charisma. A major career surely awaits him.
Russian baritone Rodion Pogossov returns as Geronio, a role he also sang here in 2021, delivering an energetic performance of impeccable comic timing. He brings genuine pathos to the lyrical passages without sacrificing Rossinian agility. His patter-filled duel with Selim and quarrel with Fiorilla are among the evening’s highlights.
Rossini conceived Selim as both an exotic and erotic contrast to Fiorilla’s husband, not merely a rougher version of him. The role depends upon clear distinctions in both vocal colour and stage presence.
I last heard Polish bass-baritone Peter Kálmán as Alberich in Monaco, where he proved vocally commanding and physically compelling. Here, however, he seems miscast. His coloratura lacks Rossinian fluency, and he fails to provide sufficient contrast with Geronio either vocally or dramatically, weakening Selim’s seductive credibility.
Azerbaijani mezzo-soprano Aytaj Shikhalizada makes a strong impression as Zaide with her rich, sultry tone, despite the role offering no solo aria. More substantial assignments surely await.
Chinese tenor Minghao Liu, although equipped with a relatively small voice unlikely to fill larger theatres, negotiates Narciso’s two notoriously difficult arias with remarkable assurance, earning deserved applause.
This is a genuine ensemble triumph. The chorus performs strongly throughout, particularly the tenors, and the entire cast plainly revels in the production’s comic energy.
As in Mozart’s da Ponte operas, the ending remains intriguingly ambiguous. Despite the reconciliation, one doubts Fiorilla will live happily ever after with her dull older husband.
An opera buffa rarity presented at the highest level. Do not miss it.
OPERA BUFFA IN TWO ACTS
Music by Giachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Libretto Felice Romani reworking a libretto by Caterino Mazzolà
Conducted by Vincenzo Militari
Directed by Mariame Clément
First performance La Scala Milan 18th August 1814
Cast includes Ayjaj Shikhalizada, Anie Gou, Matteo Mancini, Rodion Pogossov, Elena Villalón, Peter Kálmán, Minghao Liu, Anna Marie Sullivan
Running time 4 hours 10 minutes with 90-minute supper interval
23 May to 9th 2026 in repertoire
Photo Credit ASH